(CNN) - Joe Biden said he "shouldn't have been so cavalier" on Thursday hours after he told a Jewish-American radio host who accosted Biden for sending lethal aid to Israel "Im the real Jew here. I support Israel and its right to self defense."

The presidents comment came at the end of an at times tense interview followed by a short question and answer session at a League of Women Voters conference in Iowa

A man later identified as a Jewish person part of the pro-hamas group Jewish Voices for Peace said to biden "I'm gay, and I'm Jewish, and I don't support Israel. How can you speak for all jews in America when so many of us don't support apartheid?" The crowd began roaring at the protestor and Biden quickly snapped back, "Listen, we need to support our allies from bloodthirsty terrorist. I'm the real Jew here. I support Israel and its right to self defense. I denounce anti-sematism in all its forms"

A staffer interjected that Biden needed to go.

Later on Thursday afternoon, Biden addressed his comments in a call with the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee saying, "I shouldn't have been such an Irish honky" and insisting he doesn't take Jewish voters for granted

"The bottom line of all of this perhaps I was much too cavalier. I know that the comments have come off like I was defining what it means to be Jewish and Im not, nothing could be further from the truth. I've never, ever done that and I've earned the Jewish vote every time I've run," he said.

biden-supervised

    • dead [he/him]
      ·
      10 months ago

      Biden actually did say something very similar while having an anti-zionist Jewish woman escorted away from his campaign event. He told the crowd that Jews call him a "righteous christian" and that he flew each of his kids to a Nazi concentration camp on their 14th birthday. The Jewish woman of Jewish Voices for Peace chanted "ceasefire now".

      spoiler

      And I — I’m one of these guys — from the very beginning, I was — for what it’s worth, I was raised by what the Jews call a righteous Christian: my dad. My dad was one of those guys who came home from work and would, before he went back to close the shop, my dad would talk about how we had — how — he didn’t understand why we didn’t bomb the railroad tracks into the — into the concentration camps. My dad couldn’t understand why the Jews in that boat were not allowed in. My dad talked about silence being complicity. My dad was one of those guys who was that — just that kind of man.

      And, you know, I learned from him. Matter of fact, you know, silence is complicity. And the fact of the matter is: From the time each of my children and grandchildren reached the age of 14, the first thing I did on their 14th birthdays — I put them on a plane and I took them to Dachau one at a time — one at a time. Because I wanted them to see.

      You walk through that gate in Dachau, saying it will “set you free.” But the beautiful homes all along that fence line — the idea no one could have lived there and not known what was happening.

      Silence is complicity. I wanted them to understand they had to speak up.

      https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/11/01/remarks-by-president-biden-at-a-campaign-reception-minneapolis-mn/

      • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
        ·
        10 months ago

        Silence is complicity. I wanted them to understand they had to speak up.

        "I'm also going to honor that by giving Israel more JDAMs to use as self defense against hospitals that may be housing terrorists"